Page 2 of The Rancher’s Ecstasy

A shiver of doubt crept through her. She was in the middle of nowhere and hadn’t seen another person since the little town of Breakenridge she passed through half an hour ago. What if she’d read the directions wrong?

A light cramp of tension tightened the back of her neck and between her shoulders. Emily realized it had been a long time since she’d stopped the car and let herself move around and get the blood rushing through her veins again. The idea of a long run right then was so tempting, but she had to remind herself she was in the middle of nowhere and she didn’t think it was really safe. Until she knew, she had to hold off.

A sigh of frustration slipped from her lips, and her hands tightened on the steering wheel. She decided she would drive another twenty minutes, and if she hadn’t come upon anything, she’d head back to town and get further help.

Only another five minutes passed when she came upon the Knight Ranch sign. The sign was large, made of black metal and held up by two stone pillars, and arched over the driveway. It was beautiful. On the sides of the Knight name were carvings of three horses. Two on one side of the name and one on the other.

Emily flexed her stiff fingers when her hands began to ache. She hadn’t known she’d been gripping the steering wheel that tightly. Her eyes roamed back and forth but kept a close eye on the driveway. She could just see the top of a house and a few barns when she turned into the gravel driveway. She estimated it was going to be close to another mile before she actually got to the part of the ranch she needed to reach.

When she reached the big house, she parked, turned off the car, and exhaled. She was finally here. She was both exhausted and exhilarated to finally be on a ranch, surrounded by horses. It was a dream come true.

Chapter Two

After glancing around, she got out. She stretched her arms over her head and bent back a little, trying to loosen the tight muscles in her back. Emily pushed her shoulder-length brown hair from her face and sighed in disgust when she felt the frizziness of the strands through her fingers. She could only imagine how untidy it looked. She had thick hair that tended to have a gentle wave to it most of the time, but on many occasions, it liked to turn into a curly mess, and since she hadn’t brushed it since that morning and with the window down the last part of her trip, she knew it was probably a little wild-looking.

Emily looked around in fascination. Her gaze traveled over the many buildings and the animals and people present. The main house was large and beautiful. The bottom story of the house was some kind of stone with darkly stained wood planks on the second floor. There were eight small cabins in different colors off to the left, away from the house. To the right were five large white barns. Everything was in pristine condition. She could tell the owner loved this place and took great pride in it.

Where she stood, her attention was caught for a moment on the large area in the middle of everything that bustled with activity.

Emily sighed tiredly and bent, snatched up her purse, and walked toward the front door of the large ranch house. The last email instructed her to walk in, and someone would be there to greet her and get her situated in one of the small cabins.

Emily stepped through the door into a small room with three doorways leading to hallways. To the right were a few chairs and a small table in between. She smiled at a young, thin, attractive woman behind the counter off to the left.

The woman smiled back. “Welcome to Knight Ranch. You must be Mrs. Holmes?”

Emily held out her hand to the woman. “I’m Ms. now. Please call me Emily.”

“Okay, well then, Ms. Emily,” she laughed. “I’m Daisy. Welcome. If you could read this disclosure and sign here, I can get you your key and show you your cabin.”

Emily looked at the twin dimples on either side of Daisy’s mouth and the sweet open look in her beautiful sky-blue eyes and lightly tanned skin. This woman was absolutely adorable and reminded her of her daughters.

While Emily was reading the paper, Daisy kept up a cheerful conversation, talking about the ranch, being married to the foreman, their two kids, and other people that lived there, making Emily smile and laugh at some of the stories she told.

Emily tensed suddenly and gritted her teeth as a shiver, unlike any she’d ever felt, ran down her body. She didn’t know what the cause was at first until she caught movement from the side and turned. The breath stalled in her chest. The most masculine man she’d ever seen stood inside the doorway, staring raptly at her. Tall, a couple of inches above six feet, and gorgeous. His eyes were the prettiest color she’d ever seen. Intense blue framed by long black lashes. His hair was so black it had a blue sheen to it where the overhead light hit it. That and the dark tanned color of his skin showed he might have some Native American blood. The brilliant blue eyes were a stark contrast. She could only see him from the waist up when he moved to stand behind the counter. His chest was tight with muscle, showing the contours through his long-sleeved button-down plaid shirt. His shoulders were a yard wide and took up most of the space behind the counter. His hands were large and rough-looking, with calluses and scars. One sat on the stone counter, the other on Daisy’s shoulder, showing the close relationship between the two.

Mortification hit Emily. She was standing in front of a woman and staring at her husband like a love-sick teenager. Of all the rude things she’d ever done, this took the cake. Tearing her eyes from the man, she smiled shakily at Daisy.

“I’m so sorry. I guess I’m just more tired than I thought.”

Daisy frowned in confusion. “Sorry about what?”

Feeling a deeper, heated flush cross her face, she cleared her throat, trying to ignore the intense stare the man had on her.

“For staring at your husband...”

Daisy burst out laughing. “Oh, yuck. Holy cow. He’s not my husband. Gross. He’s my uncle and way too old for me.” Daisy squeaked out a giggle when the man swatted her bottom.

“Watch it, Half-pint. I’m not that old,” he said gruffly, never taking his eyes off of Emily. Daisy smiled up at the man.

“Emily, this is Cole. He’s half owner of the place and my very young uncle,” she said, laughing.

Cole ruffled her hair before turning back to Emily. Something hot and intense passed between them. He held a hand out.

“Emily. I hope I can call you that?”

Emily laid her small hand in his grip and barely held back the gasp that clawed at her throat from the sizzling heat of his grip. Her heart jumped into her throat when she tried to pull away, and he tightened his grip before releasing her hand.

At her small nod, he continued.